Yunomine Onsen — photo: Nekosuki · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Yunomine onsen: the 92 °C pilgrims' spring on the Kumano Kodo, Tsuboyu, and how to get there
Yunomine is a single narrow street of inns along a stream in the Kii mountains of Wakayama, 2 km over a ridge from Kumano Hongū Taisha. Pilgrims on the Kumano Kodo have bathed here for centuries before going on to the shrine, and its tiny cabin bath, Tsuboyu, is part of a World Heritage site. Most guides tell you about the legends. This one puts the water in numbers, explains how Tsuboyu actually works, how to reach the village with or without walking, and how to choose between Yunomine and the two other onsen a few minutes away.
What the numbers say
- Yunomine is recorded at 92 °C and pH 7, close to neutral. Its water is classed as chloride, bicarbonate and sulfur.
- In the Kansai prefectures, only five onsen places in our records reach 80 °C: Yumura and Arima at 98 °C, Yunomine at 92 °C, Nanki-Shirahama at 85 °C and Kinosaki at 83 °C. Yunomine is the only one of the five with sulfur water.
- Wakayama has 20 onsen places in our records. Yunomine's Wikipedia article is read 929 times in our sample, second in the prefecture after Nanki-Shirahama (1,097), and 60th of 1,538 nationwide.
- Our record lists 15 inns with room for about 507 guests. Most are small family-run inns and 民宿 (minshuku), guesthouses, rather than large hotels.
A note on flow. Our database gives 30 litres a minute, the figure in the summary box of the town's Japanese Wikipedia article. The text of the same article gives 885 litres a minute for all the sources together. The second figure is the better guide to the village as a whole; 30 is not the total.
Tsuboyu: how the famous bath works
つぼ湯 (Tsuboyu) is a small wooden hut over a rock pool beside the stream in the middle of the village. The pool is fed from below and holds two people at most. It is listed as part of the World Heritage site "Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range", which is why it is often called the only bath you can sit in that is World Heritage.
- One party at a time. You buy a ticket at the counter of the public bathhouse next door, take a numbered tag, and wait your turn. Each party gets about 30 minutes inside, with the door shut.
- It is private. Because the hut is yours alone for the slot, couples and families can bathe together, and it is the bath in the village where other bathers cannot see you. If you have tattoos, ask at the counter; see going to an onsen with tattoos.
- Expect a wait. At weekends and in holiday seasons the queue can run to hours. Go early in the morning, or in the evening if you are staying the night. It closes when the stream floods.
- It is hot. The pool is fed with water that is far too hot to sit in straight from the ground; there is a cold tap. Test the water with your hand first, and do not stay in the full half hour if you feel light-headed.
There is no soap and no shower in the hut. Wash first at the public bathhouse or at your inn. Our private baths guide covers how booked baths work in general.
The rest of the village
At the head of the stream is the 湯筒 (yuzutsu), a pool where the source comes out boiling. People lower raw eggs and vegetables into it in net bags and eat them a few minutes later; the shops nearby sell eggs for it. Do not put your hand in.
The public bathhouse beside Tsuboyu has ordinary indoor baths and is open into the evening, so day visitors who cannot face the Tsuboyu queue can still bathe. Tōkō-ji, a small temple, stands at the top of the street. That is most of it: a walk from one end of Yunomine to the other takes ten minutes, and there is very little else to do in the evening. Shops are few and small, with nothing like a supermarket, so buy what you need in Tanabe or Shingu.
The smell is milder than at the big sulfur towns, and the water in the baths is usually clear or faintly cloudy rather than milky white. It tarnishes silver all the same, so take jewellery off. See sulfur onsen.
Walking in on the Kumano Kodo
Yunomine sits on the Nakahechi, the most walked of the Kumano Kodo routes, and many visitors arrive on foot.
- From Kumano Hongū Taisha. The Dainichi-goe trail climbs over a small mountain from the shrine area and drops into the village. It is short, about 3.5 km, but steep in places; allow around an hour and a half. The shrine is 1.9 km from Yunomine in a straight line.
- Along the Nakahechi. Walkers coming from Takijiri and Chikatsuyu normally reach Hongū first; the Akagi-goe branch leaves the main route at Hosshinmon-ōji and comes down into Yunomine from the other side, so some walkers sleep here the night before reaching the shrine.
Inns along the trail are used to walkers arriving alone, sweaty and late in the afternoon. Book dinner with the room; there is almost nowhere else to eat. See what "two meals included" means and onsen on your own.
Getting there without walking
There is no railway in the Hongū area. Every route ends with a local bus, and the buses are not covered by the Japan Rail Pass. Yunomine is 100.1 km from Osaka Station in a straight line, but the mountain roads make it feel much further.
- From Kii-Tanabe. Limited express trains on the Kisei Line run from Shin-Osaka and Tennōji to Kii-Tanabe in a little over two hours; the JR Pass covers them. Buses to Hongū and Yunomine take about two hours from the station, 36.7 km away in a straight line.
- From Shingu. On the other side of the peninsula, buses from Shingu Station, 24.5 km away, take about an hour. This is the side to come from if you are combining Yunomine with Nachi Falls (20.8 km) and the coast.
- By air. Nanki-Shirahama Airport, 40.8 km away, has flights from Tokyo Haneda. Buses connect to Kii-Tanabe and onward.
- From Nara. A long route bus runs south from Yamato-Yagi through the mountains to Hongū and on to Shingu. It is slow but scenic, and the only direct link from Nara.
Buses run only a few times a day. Plan the day around the timetable, not the other way round, and do not expect to arrive after dark. Times are rough and change by season; check the current route before you go. For other options closer to the cities, see onsen from Kyoto and Osaka and the 3 best onsen towns near Osaka and Kyoto.
Yunomine, Kawayu or Wataze?
Three onsen villages sit within 2.5 km of each other around Hongū, together called the Hongū Onsenkyō, and buses link them in a few minutes.
- Yunomine: the oldest and best known, the hottest water (92 °C) and the only one of the three with sulfur. Small inns on a narrow street. Pick it for Tsuboyu and the pilgrim history.
- Kawayu, 2.4 km away: recorded at 73 °C, alkaline, with 11 inns and room for about 862, more than Yunomine. Hot water rises through the gravel of the river, and guests dig their own pools on the bank. In winter the village builds a large pool in the river itself, the 仙人風呂 (sennin-buro), usually from December to February. Pick it if you want to bathe in the river.
- Wataze, 1.4 km away: chloride and bicarbonate water with about 600 litres a minute, and 2 inns with room for about 301. It is known for a large outdoor bath. Pick it if you want a big outdoor bath and a larger, hotel-style place to stay.
Staying in one and bathing in the others is easy. Most visitors who come for one night stay at Yunomine or Kawayu and visit the other in the evening or the next morning.
When to go
Spring and autumn are the walking seasons and the busiest, with the longest Tsuboyu queues. Summer is hot and humid in the valleys, and heavy rain can close trails and Tsuboyu. Winter is quiet and cold at night, and the time to combine Yunomine with Kawayu's river bath. Our seasons guide compares the year across Japan.
Nearby sights in our data include Kumano Hongū Taisha, 2 km away, Hosshinmon-ōji, 5 km, the Dorokyō gorge, 14.7 km, and Mount Tamaki, 11.5 km. Kamiyu, 11.9 km north in Nara, is another bicarbonate and sulfur spring on the road to Totsukawa.
Things not to do
Do not arrive for Tsuboyu at midday on a holiday weekend expecting to get in.
Do not miss the last bus out if you are on a day trip; there are few rooms and no taxis waiting.
Do not put your hand in the yuzutsu, or let children lean over it.
Do not walk the Dainichi-goe after dark or in heavy rain.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For the rest of the region, see onsen from Kyoto and Osaka, Arima and Kinosaki. For other hot sulfur water, see sulfur onsen and the 3 best onsen for water in Japan.